Means for spreading grit in the paths of automobile drive wheels



Jan; 20,1931. JPR, sci-[OPP 1,789,600

MEANS FOR SPREADING GRIT IN THE PATHS OF AUTOMOBILE DRIVE WHEELS Filed Spt.

' 1a, 1950 :s'sheets-sheet 1 J. R. SCHOPP 1 ,789,600

MEANS FOR SPREADING GRIT IN THE PATHS "OF AUTOMOBILE DRIVE WHEELS Jan. 20, 1931.

Filed Sept. 18, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 3mm (IR. 5 0% app 18,, 1930 Sinus-sheet; 3.

J. R. sCHoPP Filed se'pt.

Jan. 20, 1931.

MEANS FOR" SPREADING GMT '18 runs 6? AUTOMOBILE DRIVE WHEELS I 7 I I 4 I 5 r I I flrlrnvlrrdr .v 2/ II I: III",

I {"I I I I l I I I I 'l (I I'll gave i.

between certain ofthe bearin brackets ltl and collars 21 fixed to the rot: 5, function to normally maintain the valve plates 15 in closed position.

Levers 22 extend dowmvardlyufroml the:

floor 6 across the front ends of the rods 18,

1 andareconnected attheir upper ends to the floor by spring hinges 23 which normally ofvthe levers 22 are located aboveandrearmaintain them in a verticalposition out of contact with the front ends of the rods, The

front ends of the rods 18 andthe lower'ends fwardlyy'offthe shaft5. The shaft It'ur ns rearwardly' during the application iof the. brakes of, the automobile, and arms '24; ex-;..' tending Tupwardly from-the shaft when the brakes" are released, contact with thelower ends of the levers 22 during the initial phase fof the application of thebrakes. The arms 25' brakes, swing 24, during this phase of the application of the levers 22 upwardly, and rearwardly, and thereafter pass the lower ends of, the lovers. This" movement of the levers 22'i-mparts a rearward thrust'tothe rods 18,,with. the result that the valve plates are swung downwardly into opened position. ,The'rods 18aremoved rearwardly a ainst the 1 tension ofthe' springs which, i a. ter the arms 24 move out-of contact with .the levers22, react and move the rods 1 18 forwardly,f with the result that the-valve plates '15 are swun' upwardl .into closed' position. Duringt e eriod' t at thevalve plateslfi are opened t e, grit flows into the pipes 14 and is directed by the, pipes in the paths of therear wheels 2. p

are released, the shaft 5'turns forwardly andcarries the arms 24 .into their normal sitionforwardly of the lower ends of When the brakes lever22'. p 'Af'tube' 25 which'communicates with the e'x haust pipe ,3 at a point forwardly, of the mufilere and'which extends rearwardly from .c 14 at points below and forwardly o 2 opened position of the valve plates '15 to the j .endthat the exhaust geases-from theengine of v the exhaustjpipe to a point below the tank9, 60

nozzles 26 which communicate with the piples v t e theautomobile may directedto the pipes 14 so as to forcibly expel thegrit from these H ipes intothe paths of "the rear wheels 2. he'nozzles 26 discharge downwardly and rearwardly into'the pipes 14', and the valve plates 15 when in opened position extend downwardly and rearwardly aerossthe .discharge ends of the nozzles, with the result that the exhaust gases are caused to flow downwardly through the pipesand thus insure the positive discharge of the grit therei from.

tial lphase of-the application of th I vspread grit in the pathspfuthe rear wheel;i 'is'provided at its rear endjwith branches or t the invention, together with which I now consider the preferred embodiment thereof," it is to be understood that the As shown in Figure 7, the tank 9 may be provided with a coil 27 which surrounds the tank and is interposed between the tube 25 and the nozzles 26 so as to cause theexhaust gases to pass therethrough on their way to the nozzles, the passing ofexhaust gases through thecoil maintaininithetemperature of the tank sufiiciently big to prevent the 1 freezing-of the grit therein and thus insure its free passage tot-he pipe 14 when the valve plates 15v are opened.

Tubes 28' extend fromwthe bottoin of the tank 9 to thepipes 14 and communicate with "the'pipe's at points below the valve plates 15.

Valves 29am arranged in the tubes 28, and

are slidably mounted for movement into.

openedor closed position. When in closed osi'tion, the valves 29 extend acrossthetubes 28, and when in. opened position, the valves are located outwar and rearwardly while being closed. Means are provided I to permit the valves 29,,to be opened orclosed manually, and thisme'ans coniprises a. shaft 301' Qurnaledin bearings. 31

secured to the steering column 32 ofthe auto mobile in a manner, to support theshaft. in parallelrelation to the steering column. The

shaft rovided at its lower end witha crank 33 w ich is pivotally connected :as at sale the front end ofarod 35 extending forweirdly from the valves 29., The valves 29 are normallyclosed, and the shaft 30 is provided atits upper end with anarm 36 located .near

the steering wheel ,37"o,f the automobile and .throu h the medium of which the driver may turn t e shaft to open the'va'lves'ior return them to closed position. These valvesand the operating me n therefore render the device-operable, independentl of the brakes,

'to ermit' the spreading o thegrit .in the pat s ofthe rear wheels 2 when necessary to overcome" slippery road-or 'streetmconditions.

a From thefore oing description, taken inconnectionwith t e accompl ang ing drawings,

it'will be understood that t ,e

I eviceisladapb edto automatically function duringJ thev 1nie rakes to at it 1s adapted, to be manually operat it in thepaths of the, rear tion; It will also be understood that the device is sim 1e and capable ofbeing manufactured ant sold at a comparativel low' cost, and that it may bereadily applie to an automobile of any type.

V WhileI have described the, rinciple of e structure 1y beyond thetubes. The valves 29 move forwardly whle being opened r the tank and having the valves, valves in the structure shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made, when esired, vas fall within the scope of the invention as claimed:

What is claimed is 1. A grit spreading device for an automobile, comprising a tank adapted to hold the grit and mounted on theautomobile, pipes extending downwardly from the tank and having their lower or discharge ends arranged in advance of the rear wheels of the automobile and close to the paths of the wheels, valves for controlling the passage of the grit from the tank to the pipes, ro s slidably mounted on the automobile and connected at certain ends thereofto the valves, levers extending across the other ends of the rods, spring hinges connecting the levers, to the automobile, a brake cross shaft provided with arms arranged for contact with the levers during the initial phase of the application of the brakes, and springs bearing against the rods to normally hold the valves in closed position.

.2. A grit spreading device for an automo bile, comprising a tank adapted to hold the grit and mounted on the automobile, pipes extending downwardly from the tank and having their lower or discharge ends arranged inadvance of the rear wheels 0 the automobile and close to the paths of the wheels,valves for controlling the passage of the grit from the tank to the pipes, va ve operating means, nozzles having their ischarge ends arranged in the pipe'below the valves, and a coil surrounding the tank and communicating at one end with the exhaust pipe of the automobile and the other end with. the nozzles.

3. A grit'spreading'device for an automo-" bile, comprising a tank adapted to hold the grit and mounted on the automobile, pipes extending downwardly from the bottom of their lower or discharge ends arranged in advance of the rear wheels of the automobile and close to the paths of the wheels, valves for'controlling the passage of the grit from the tank to the pipes, means yieldingly holding the valves in closed position, brake controlled means for opening the valves during the initial phase of the application of the brakes, tubes extending solely in a downward and outward direction from the bottom of the tank to the pipes and communicating with the latter at points below tubes'and normally closed, and manually operable means for opening-said second valves.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature. JAMES R. SCHOPP. 

